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^^. 


THE  DUTY  OF  SELF-CONTROL 

An  Address  to  the  Students  of  Princeton 
University,  in  Marquand  Chapel, 
Sunday  afternoon,  January  30,  J  898. 
By  President  Patton. 


f  S 


THE  DUTY  OF  SELF-CONTROL 

An  Address  to  the  Students  of  Princeton 
University,  in  Marquand  Chapel, 
Sunday  afternoon,  January  30,  J898, 
By  President  Patton. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  of  Princeton  Univer- 
sity, held  February  2d,  1898,  the  following  action  was 
taken  by  a  unanimous  vote  : 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Faculty  of  Princeton  Uni- 
versity be  tendered  President  Patton  for  his  wise  and  timely  address 
on  Temperance  given  Sunday,  January  30th,  in  Marquand  Chapel, 
and  that  in  the  judgment  of  the  Facuhy  it  should  be  printed  and 
widely  circulated. 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  the  Faculty  be  appointed  to  carry 
this  action  into  efifect. 

The  committee  appointed  under  the  last  resolution 
consisted  of  Dean  Murray,  Professor  Duffield  and 
Professor  West. 


Copies  of  this   address   may    be   obtained    from    Mr.    Henry    N.  Van  Dyke, 
Registrar,    Trinccton,    New    J  erst  y. 


THE  DUTY  OF  SELF-CONTROL 

At  tlu-ir  nicclin.i^r  in  October  the  attention  of  our 
Trustees  was  turned  to  the  recent  agitation  which  has 
so  seriously  involved  the  good  name  of  Princeton  Uni- 
versity. A  committee,  of  which  I  was  chairman,  was 
appointed  to  consider  the  whole  subject  and  report  at 
a  subsccjuenl  meeting  of  the  Trustees.  That  report  was 
presented  and  adopted  at  the  meeting  held  on  the  twenty- 
third  of  December.  It  was  resolved  that  a  strict,  literal, 
and  impartial  enforcement  of  the  existing  laws  respect- 
ing intoxicating  drinks  be  enjoined  upon  the  Faculty;  and 
that  the  President  of  the  University  be  asked  to  make 
a  statement  to  the  students  upon  the  whole  question  at 
such  time  as  may  suit  his  convenience. 

I  come  before  you  this  afternoon  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the  Trustees  in  respect  ta 
the  second  point  in  the  report  just  referred  to.  As  we 
have  just  observed  the  day  of  prayer  for  colleges,  I  do- 
not  know  that  a  more  fitting  time  could  be  chosen  for 
the  purpose  of  bringing  this  important  subject  to  your 
notice. 

I  bear  grateful  testimony  to  the  high  moral  tone  of 
the  students  of  this  University.  I  know  that  they  have 
been  misrepresented  and  misunderstood.  Their  hilarity, 
their  boisterous  outbursts  of  exuberant  energy,  their 
song-singing  which  often  has  a  more  Bacchanalian  sound 
than  I  could  wish,  and  in  some  instances  their  inex- 
cusable acts  of  wrong-doing  have  produced  impressions 
which  the  facts  will  not  justify;  and  they  have  on  many 
occasions  been  charged  with  drunkenness  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  under  the  influence  of  the  gregarious 
instinct  which  sometimes  assumes  an  almost  irrational 
mode  of  expression,  animal  spirits  have  been  allowed 


too    much  freedom,   and  speech  and  action  have  not 
been  kept  within  those  metes  and  bounds  which  mature 
men  in  the  busy  walks  of  life  are  apt  to  associate  with 
sobriety.    1  am  sure  that  so  far  as  good  behaviour  is  con- 
cerned the  undergraduates  of  Princeton  are  not  behind 
the  undergraduate  body  of  any  university  in  the  land; 
and  I  am  proud  to  say,  on  what  1  feel  is  good   author- 
ity, that  the  Princeton  undergraduate  of  to-day  does 
not  suffer  by  comparison   with   the    Princeton    under- 
graduate of  bygone  years.   There  never  was  less  reason 
for  adverse  criticism  of  Princeton  than  during  the  period 
in  which  it  has  been  so  unsparingly  bestowed  upon  us. 
I  have  taken  pains  to  find  out  the  truth,  and  I  am  still 
unshaken  in  my  conviction  that  the  tendency  in  Prince- 
ton is  steadily  in  the  direction  of  a  diminished  use   of 
alcoholic  drinks.      Still,  I  must  not  be  blind  to  facts; 
and  after  making  all  allowance  for  wilful  misrepresen- 
tation or  mistake  I  am  constrained  to  believe  that  there 
is  far  more  of  what  is  called  moderate  drinking  among 
us  than  the  wisest  and  best  friends  of  Princeton  could 
wish;  and  that  there  are  those  among  you  who  are  put- 
ting their  future  in  peril  by  the  excessive  use  of  stimu- 
lants.     Instances    of    intoxication    are    comparatively 
rare,  but  they  occur  nevertheless,  and  there  is  a  ten- 
dency I  find,  even  among  some  of  those  who  cannot 
be  charged  with  it  themselves,  to  think  too  lightly  of 
the  sin  of  drunkenness.   I  shall  not  discuss  the  general 
question   of  intemperance,    nor   consider   the   relative 
degrees  of  wisdom  that  characterize  the  different  modes 
of  dealing  with  it.      On  the  latter  question  good  men, 
actuated  by  the  purest  motives,  differ  widely,  and  we 
as  Christian  men  are  bound  to  respect  their  conscien- 
tious judgments.      Some  think  that  the  matter  should 
be  dealt  with  by  legislation,  either  by  absolute  Prohi- 


bition  or  by  the  restricted  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks. 
Some,  with  conscientious  regard  for  individual  liberty, 
are  opposed   to   what  arc   known   as  sumptuary   laws. 
When  we  admit  that  the  sale   of  a  commodity  should 
be  restricted  we  so  far  forth  concede  the  principle  of 
State  control.     The  question  after  that  is  one  of  de- 
gree, and  the  answer  to  it  is  to  be  found  in  considera- 
tions of  expediency  and   by   inquiring   which  method 
best  serves  the  end  in  view.     The  Prohibitionist  must 
not  be  scorned  as  the  invader  of  liberty;  and  the  ad- 
vocate of  high  license  must  not  be  denied  his  right  to 
be  regarded  as  working  in  the  interests  of  Temperance. 
I  am  not  here  concerned  with  the  general  question  as 
to  what  is  wise  legislative  policy.      It  is  with  the  ethical 
side  of  Temperance  and  not  its  political  side  that  I  am 
dealing.     It  is  not  of  Temperance  in  general,   but  of 
Temperance  in  Princeton  University,   that  I  wish  to 
speak.     And  speaking  under  even  these  limitations  it 
is  not  with  the  disciplinary  side  of  the  question  that  I 
wish  to  deal  in  what  I  say  this  afternoon.     There  is 
nothing  unnatural   in  the  desire  of  the  Trustees  for  a 
vigilant  enforcement  of  what  has  for  many  years  been 
the  law  of  the  University  in  regard  to  alcoholic  liquors. 
That  law  is  wise  and  wholesome;  and  while  I  am  in 
full   sympathy   with   your  feeling  that  the  University 
man  is  not  to  be  treated  as  though  he  were  in  a  pre- 
paratory school,  I  am  ready  to  take  my  full  share  of 
responsibility  for  the  report  which,  as  chairman  of  the 
committee   dealing  with  the  question,  I  made  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees.      I  am   in   full  sympathy  with  the 
action  of  the  Trustees  with  regard  to  the  enforcement 
of  the  existing  law,  and  1  feel  that  the  administration 
of  that  law  can  be  wisely  left  to   the  good  sense  and 
Christian  judgment  of  the  Dean  of  this  University. 


In  what  I  say  this  afternoon  I  wish  to  bring  the 
moral  influence  of  this  pulpit  to  bear  upon  the  grave 
question  with  which  we  have  to  deal.  I  am  sure  that 
the  good  sense  of  the  better  part  of  the  University  will 
be  in  sympathy  with  the  maintenance  of  a  high  discip- 
linary standard.  I  am  confident  that  in  the  long  run 
our  course  will  commend  itself  to  the  calm  and  bal- 
anced judgment  of  the  Christian  public.  I  believe  that 
we  shall  find  it  possible  to  have  such  a  wise  execution 
of  this  law  as  will  accomplish  the  ends  which  we  wish 
to  realize  without  fostering  hypocrisy  or  developing 
the  vice  of  secret  drinking.  But  we  shall  have  need  of 
great  wisdom,  and  I  think  I  may  fairly  ask  all  who 
have  the  interests  of  Princeton  at  heart  to  trust  the 
men  who  are  called  to  the  responsible  position  of 
guiding  her  affairs. 

There  are  two  classes  of  men  whom  I  have  par- 
ticularly in  mind:  those  who  have  already  fallen  into 
intemperate  habits  and  those  who  are  in  danger  of 
forming  those  habits.  I  know  that  there  are  some  who 
do  not  make  much  of  the  distinction  between  these  two 
classes,  and  who  therefore,  as  they  happen  to  be  habitu- 
ally lenient  or  severe  in  their  judgments,  are  apt  to 
waste  too  much  pity  on  the  man  who  is  guilty  of  habitual 
intoxication  or  else  to  treat  the  moderate  drinker  as  a 
drunkard.  But  the  distinction  is  a  valid  one,  and  sim- 
ple justice  requires  us  to  make  it.  Now,  I  wish  to  say 
that  drunkenness  is  practically  an  unpardonable  sin  in 
our  academic  life.  I  do  not  forget  the  duty  I  owe  men 
to  counsel,  to  warn  them,  and  to  labour  for  their  im- 
provement. There  have  been  men  in  all  these  years 
of  my  administration  who  know  how  faithfully  they 
have  been  dealt  with  in  regard  to  this  sin  which  ruins 
both   body  and   soul.      lUit  with    the   utmost  desire    to 


reclaim  the  erring,  and  making  every  allowance  for  the 
mistakes  of  youth,  it  must  be  understood  that  a  man 
cannot  be  guilty  of  repeated  acts  of  intoxication  and 
continue  in  this  University  if  his  offence  is  known  to 
the  authorities. 

I  wish  more  particularly,  however,  to  say  a  kindly 
word  to  those  who  are  understood  to  be  moderate 
drinkers.  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  giving  them  some 
advice;  and  the  basis  for  that  advice  I  must  find  of 
course  in  the  New  Testament.  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  moralisation  of  society  has  reached  the  point  of 
superseding  the  Bible.  I  cannot  accept  any  conclu- 
sions of  the  so-called  Christian  consciousness  that 
would  contradict  or  transcend  the  ethics  of  Jesus  and 
St.  Paul. 

There  is,  let  me  say,  no  great  difficulty  in  morals 
where  we  recognize  our  duty  as  defined  by  objective 
law.  The  difficulty  emerges  when  the  conscience  must 
first  issue  the  command  which  she  has  to  obey;  for  in 
this  case  there  is  required  not  only  the  will  to  do  what 
is  seen  to  be  duty,  but  the  clearness  of  vision  neces- 
sary to  the  forming  of  a  conscientious  judgment.  I 
can  only  hope  for  my  advice  that  it  may  help  you  to 
form  a  conscientious  judgment.  Some  of  you  will  re- 
member what  Kant  said  in  regard  to  the  autonomy  of 
the  will,  and  how  he  insisted  that  the  law  to  be  moral 
must  be  self-legislated.  Of  course  Kant  carried  this 
idea  too  far;  but  there  is  nevertheless  a  sphere  of  con- 
duct in  which  the  conscience  must  be  autonomous.  It 
is  precisely  in  respect  to  this  very  matter  of  the  autonomy 
of  the  individual  conscience  that  St.  Paul,  writing 
under  the  influence  of  Inspiration,  makes  his  conspic- 
uous contribution  to  Christian  Ethics  in  his  great  utter- 
ance, "If  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat 


8 


no  flesh  while  the  world  standeth."  This  is  the  language 
in  which  Paul  enunciates  his  conscientious  purpose  in 
respect  to  a  concrete  matter  in  the  light  of  the  princi- 
ple of  Christian  expediency.  This  passage,  taken  in 
connection  with  others  of  a  similar  import,  may  be 
regarded  as  giving  us  the  Pauline  doctrine  respecting 
the  autonomy  of  the  individual  conscience.  Accord- 
ing to  this  doctrine  then  there  are  certain  things  con- 
cerning which  there  is  no  objective  law;  and  therefore 
since  there  is  no  objective  law  defining  conduct,  I  am 
absolutely  free  in  reference  to  them.  Were  there  any 
law  in  regard  to  these  things  I  should  not  only  be  bound 
by  it,  but  I  should  be  open  to  the  criticism  of  my  fellow- 
men  if  I  disobeyed  it.  For  binding  me  and  my  fellow- 
men  alike  it  would  be  the  rule  of  each  for  himself  and 
the  canon  by  which  every  man  might  fairly  judge  his 
neighbor.  Now  in  regard  to  these  matters  about  which 
there  is  no  objective  law,  I  must  occupy  the  double 
position  of  first  enunciating  and  then  obeying  the  com- 
mand that  is  to  rule  my  will.  The  consequence  of  this 
position  is  very  obvious.  If  an  attempt  is  made  to 
impose  an  external  law  upon  my  conscience  which  I 
know  is  not  binding,  I  resent  it  and  assert  my  liberty; 
and  I  do  well  in  so  doing.  It  is  just  because  so  many 
do  not  recognize  this  sphere  of  the  autonomy  of  the 
conscience  that  they  undertake  to  make  what  they  feel 
is  law  for  them  the  law  for  other  people  also,  and  so 
become  censorious;  and  criticise  and  blame  where  they 
have  no  right  to  criticise  and  blame.  On  the  other 
hand,  while  I  may  very  properly  assert  my  liberty  if  it 
is  assailed,  I  may  also  conscientiously  conclude  that  it 
is  my  duty  to  forego  the  exercise  of  my  liberty.  In 
doing  this  1  issue  a  command,  and  am  as  much  bound 
by  this  subjectively-enunciated  command  as    though  it 


were  a  binding  objective  law.  I  do  not  hold  then  that 
the  doctrine  of  Christian  expediency  resolves  itself 
into  prudence.  A  conscientious  judgment  of  duty  is 
duty,  even  though  it  be  dictated  by  a  benevolent  re- 
gard for  others  or  a  prudent  regard  for  one's  own  in- 
terest. The  voluntary  abstention  from  the  doing  of 
that  which — so  far  as  any  objective  law  is  concerned — 
I  am  at  full  liberty  to  do,  may  appear  to  me  to  be  a 
duty  and  in  so  far  as  it  seems  to  be  a  duty  it  is  a  de- 
liverance of  conscience  and  binding  upon  me  in  the 
sight  of  God.  But  it  must  be  understood  that  while 
being  self-enunciated  1  am  bound  to  obey  the  com- 
mand, I  would  if  it  were  not  self-enunciated,  resent 
any  attempt  to  impose  it  upon  me  from  without,  seeing 
that  there  is  no  external  law  to  serve  as  a  common 
measure  between  minds  in  regard  to  the  matter  with 
which  it  is  concerned.  It  is  easy  from  this  to  see 
the  double  and  what  at  first  appears  to  be  the  incon- 
sistent attitude  of  St.  Paul  where  on  the  one  hand  he 
sharply  rebukes  the  man  who  presumes  to  dictate  to 
his  neighbour,  saying,  *'\Vho  art  thou  that  judgest 
another  man's  servant?  to  his  own  master  he  standeth 
or  falleth;"  and,  on  the  other  hand,  exhorts  men  to  use 
their  liberty  under  the  restraints  of  the  law  of  Chris- 
tian charity  and,  for  the  sake  of  others,  refrain  from  the 
doing  of  what  in  itself  considered  they  are  at  perfect 
liberty  to  do.  Of  course  I  am  saying  nothing  new  in 
this  account  I  am  giving  of  the  Pauline  doctrine  of 
Christian  expediency.  It  is  only  what  the  Alexanders 
and  the  Hodges  and  all  the  great  lights  of  Princeton 
divinity  have  said  all  along.  But  I  am  afraid  that  in 
contemporary  discussions  of  the  temperance  question, 
this  principle  which  it  seems  to  me  is  vital  to  the  whole 


lO 


controversy  is  very  commonly  lost  sight  of  or  altogether 
misunderstood. 

Paul  enunciates  the  duty  of  having  a  benevolent 
regard  for  the  conscience  of  the  weak  brother  in  con- 
nection with  a  discussion  regarding  the  practice  of 
eating  meats  offered  to  idols.  The  apostle  would  do 
nothing  that  would  weaken  the  moral  purpose  or  shake 
the  moral  integrity  of  his  neighbour  even  though  the 
thing  he  refrained  from  doing  was  perfectly  innocent 
in  itself.  To  eat  meat  offered  to  idols  was  not  intrin- 
sically wrong:  but  in  the  judgment  of  some  this  might 
seem  like  a  concession  to  idolatry:  and  under  these  cir- 
cumstances the  apostle  would  refrain  from  the  exercise 
of  his  liberty.  In  other  words,  says  Paul,  we  are  to 
consider  not  only  what  our  own  conscience  has  to  say, 
but  how  our  act  may  affect  the  consciences  of  others. 
I  must  not  do  what  my  conscience  allows  if  in  doing  so 
I  tempt  my  neighbour  to  do  what  his  conscience  con- 
demns, since  for  him  to  act  in  violation  of  his  con- 
science would  be  for  him  to  sin.  ''Conscience,  I 
say,  not  thine  own,  but  of  the  other."  Now  I  venture 
to  say  that  we  all  recognize  this  great  altruistic  prin- 
ciple. For  all  to  whom  the  New  Testament  is  authori- 
tative, the  principle  is  an  objective  law.  The  carrying 
out  of  that  law  must,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  largely 
left  to  the  individual  conscience.  Men  apply  this 
principle  in  different  ways  in  regard  to  the  use  of  wine. 
Some  conscientiously  abstain  at  all  times;  some  as  con- 
scientiously are  governed  in  their  abstinence  by  con- 
siderations of  time,  place  and  circumstances.  We  must 
not  charge  men  with  hypocrisy  or  intemperance  or 
fanaticism  because  they  do  not  agree  with  us  in  the 
application  of  a  princijile  which  we  all  alike  recognize 
as  obligatory.      lUityou  and  I  should  ask  ourselves  the 


II 

question,  How  can  I  best  carry  out  this  great  principle  ? 
Speaking,  then,  to  you  to-day  I  could  wish  that  there 
might  grow  up  in  your  hearts  the  feeling  that  you 
ought  not  to  do  any  thing  that  will  endanger  the  Chris- 
tian manhood  of  one  of  your  friends  or  classmates.  Let 
us  begin  to  put  this  Pauline  principle  in  practice  in  the 
•spheres  where  our  influence  is  most  palpable.  The 
way  to  feel  the  power  of  the  principle  is  to  apply  it  in 
•concrete  cases.  The  weak  brother  who  so  easily  loses 
his  self-control,  who  is  so  easily  overcome  by  tempta- 
tion, is  constantly  giving  you  the  opportunity  to  put  in 
practice  the  Pauline  doctrine.  I  venture  to  say  that 
most  of  you  have  a  weak  brother  among  your  acquain- 
tances. He  is  your  room-mate,  or  a  member  of  your 
club,  or  he  belongs  to  the  same  athletic  organization, 
or  he  goes  with  you  on  the  trip  of  the  Glee  Club.  He 
is  apt  to  be  what  is  known  as  a  nice  fellow,  generous, 
warm-hearted,  buoyant,  full  of  good  impulses;  and  you 
love  him.  Here  is  a  chance  for  you  to  act  on  Paul's 
principle.  I  am  sure  that  you  and  I  have  acted  on  this 
principle  a  great  many  times.  Let  us  continue  to  act 
•on  it,  and  we  shall  find  that  the  area  of  altruistic  ab- 
stention from  what  is  allowable  is  constantly  widening. 
AVe  shall  find  ourselves  saying:  "All  things  are  law- 
ful for  me,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient."  And  if 
in  due  time  this  principle  should  take  the  form  of  a 
universal  proposition,  so  far  as  the  use  of  alcoholic 
liquors  is  concerned,  you  will  have  the  satisfaction  of 
feeling  that  the  law  in  this  universal  form  is  not  one 
which  has  been  forced  upon  you  from  without,  but  one 
that  has  emanated  from  your  own  conscience;  that  it  is 
binding  upon  you  because  self-legislated;  and  that  it 
leaves  you  free  from  any  tendency  to  a  censorious 
judgment  of  your  neighbor,  whose  application  of  the 


12 

Pauline  principle  of  benevolent  regard  for  others  is 
confined  to  concrete  instances  and  is  conditioned  by 
time,  place  and  circumstances. 

But  besides  your  benevolent  regard  for  your  neigh- 
bor 1  think  I  may  wisely  ask  you  to  have  a  prudent 
regard  for  your  own  best  interests.  If  any  duty  is 
intuitively  given  us  in  consciousness  it  is  Temperance, 
I  mean  the  duty  of  self-control.  Let  me  caution  you, 
then,  against  habits  which  put  this  self-control  in  peril. 
In  doing  this  I  feel  sure  that  I  can  count  on  the  moral 
support  of  a  great  many  who  themselves  hold  no  ex- 
treme positions.  There  are  a  great  many  men  in 
mature  life  who  have  no  conscientious  scruples  against 
taking  an  occasional  glass  of  wine,  who,  nevertheless, 
feel  that  it  is  not  a  good  thing  for  young  men  in  col- 
lege to  contract  the  habit  of  drinking  even  in  the  most 
moderate  way.  I  confess  that  my  conscience  is  in 
accord  with  tliis  feeling.  You  are  young,  you  are  in 
health,  you  suffer  from  no  depression  of  spirits,  you 
enjoy  life  in  abundance  ;  there  is  no  reason  why  you 
should  seek  to  have  it  more  abundantly  in  the  tempor- 
ary exhilaration  that  comes  from  alcohol  in  either  its 
diffused  or  concentrated  form.  I  feel  sure  that  the 
good  sense  of  temperate  people  everywhere  will  ap- 
prove of  our  law  respecting  intoxicating  drinks  what- 
ever may  be  their  individual  opinions  respecting  the 
political  doctrine  of  prohibition  or  the  moral  doctrine 
of  total  abstinence.  And  so  I  come  to  you  this  after- 
noon and  ask  for  your  cooperation  with  us  in  promot- 
ing Temperance  in  Princeton  University  by  giving  this 
law  your  conscientious  support.  I  confess  that  I  have 
on  more  than  one  occasion  been  gratified  and  strength- 
ened by  the  example  of  men  who  have  no  conscientious 
scruples  against  the  moderate  use  of  wine,  who  have 


»3 

used  it  and  would  use  it  a^ain  if  they  desired  to,  but 
who  have,  if  I  may  say  so,  outj2:rown  the  use  of  it  and 
have  ceased  to  care  for  it.  I  am  not  indifferent  to  the 
excesses  I  sometimes  see  ;  but  I  hope  I  am  correct  in 
-supposing — this  at  least  is  my  observation,  and  this  is 
what  1  am  told  by  men  who  are  far  better  able  to  judge 
than  I  am — that  there  is  a  tendency  in  social  life  if  not 
to  a  diminished  use  of  wine  at  least  to  the  use  of  it  in 
diminished  quantity.  The  man  of  the  world's  social 
philosophy,  unless  I  greatly  err,  is  looking  in  the  direc- 
tion of  moderation.  Let  us  carry  this  social  philosophy 
a  little  further.  Let  us  lift  up  a  high  standard  in  respect 
to  the  great  duty  of  self-control.  Let  us  discounten- 
ance convivial  drinking.  Let  us  avoid  the  habitual  use 
of  stimulants  in  any  form.  I  know  lam  safe  in  giving 
you  this  advice.  I  know  that  if  you  will  act  upon  it  it 
will  be  to  your  advantage.  It  will  at  least  eliminate 
one  of  the  contingencies  from  the  problem  of  your  suc- 
cess in  life.  I  should  be  sorry  if  the  professional  career 
of  any  one  of  you  were  blighted  by  habits  of  convivi- 
ality contracted  here.  I  should  be  sorry  to  see  you 
start  in  the  great  race  of  life  under  the  terrible  handi- 
cap of  ill  repute. 

My  brother,  I  envy  you  your  place  in  this  world. 
You  are  in  the  morning  of  your  life.  You  are  on  the 
threshold  of  your  manhood.  You  have  a  future.  Your 
prospects  are  bright.  But  a  great  struggle  is  before 
you.  You  need  the  unhampered  use  of  all  your 
powers:  good  health,  an  unclouded  mind,  trained 
intellect,  good  manners,  strict  integrity,  high  moral 
purpose,  indomitable  energy.  You  have  great  ad- 
vantage in  education.  But  you  will  meet  your  match 
in  the  keen  competition  of  business  and  professional 
life.     You  will  from  the  very  outset  of  your  career  be 


14 

engag^ed  in  a  great  fig^ht  with  circumstances.  Success 
will  mean  that  you  have  the  power  in  no  small  degree 
of  influentially  affecting  the  lives  of  other  men,  of  in- 
spiring their  confidence,  controlling  their  judgment, 
shaping  their  conduct.  But  you  must  first  learn  the 
lesson  of  self-control;  you  must  rule  your  own  spirit  if 
you  are  to  be  masterful  among  men.  You  must  fight 
out  to  the  finish  the  great  battle  of  duty  against  incli- 
nation, of  reason  against  appetite,  of  conscience 
against  lust,  of  the  spirit  against  the  flesh.  I  do  not 
feel  much  confidence  in  the  world's  panaceas.  They 
\T(»rk  too  much  on  the  outside.  Your  life  is  the  pro- 
duct of  inner  principle  and  external  environment. 
The  world's  schemes  of  reformation  make  too  much  of 
circumstances  and  too  little  of  character.  I  would 
lessen  temptation  were  it  in  my  power;  but  I  would 
also  have  you  know  that  the  great  moral  victories  are 
gained  in  the  face  of  temptations  and  by  giving  them 
battle.  1  would  do  all  that  can  be  done  to  make  your 
environment  here  favorable  to  moral  life.  Let  legis- 
lation jnit  what  restrictions  on  evil  it  wisely  can.  Let 
academic  law  find  strict  enforcement.  Let  public 
sentiment  exert  deterrent  influence.  Let  there  be 
such  a  spirit  of  high-toned  behaviour  among  our 
students  that  men  will  fear  the  penalty  of  social  dis- 
approval. Let  the  influence  of  religion,  the  sweet 
memories  of  home,  and  the  prayers  and  counsels,  the 
hopes  and  ambitions  of  fathers  and  mothers  whose 
yearning  hearts  in  these  their  declining  years  are 
turning  in  strong,  tender,  unselfish,  anxious  affection 
toward  you,  invite  you  to  live  the  manly,  upright, 
Christian  life.  But  when  all  is  done  we  shall  find  that 
it  is  in  the  very  centre  of  your  being  that  the  work  of 
reformation  must  begin.     It  is  here  that  the  profound 


15 

philosophy  of  (Christianity  reveals  itself.  For  it  and  it 
alone  can  subdue  the  will,  can  sanctify  the  affections, 
can  change  the  heart,  can  regenerate  the  character. 
And  it  is  in  the  hope  that  you  will  know  the  power  of 
the  Gospel  that  1  summon  you  to  take  up  arms  at  once 
against  the  fleshly  lusts  that  war  against  the  soul. 
Fight  appetite.  Learn  lessons  from  your  training  for 
other  contests.  Keep  your  body  under.  T)on't  break 
your  moral  training.  You  may  win  another  and  a 
brighter  garland  for  the  brow  of  your  alma  mater. 
You  may  add  another  star  to  the  crown  of  her  rejoic- 
ing. For  your  own  sake,  and  for  her  sake,  and  for  the 
world's  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  Him  who  came  to 
seek  and  to  save  you,  determine  now  to  win  the  great 
battle  of  your  life  which  shall  make  you  master  of 
yourself. 

I  do  not  think  that  this  battle  against  appetite  will 
be  so  easily  won  by  some  of  you.  I  do  not  think  that 
any  of  us  is  so  safe  that  he  can  afford  to  boast.  "Let 
him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall." 
It  is  a  constant  battle  with  temptation  in  some  form  or 
other  that  we  have  to  fight.  And  notwithstanding 
holy  influence  without  and  high  principle  within;  in 
spite  of  public  sentiment,  and  righteous  law,  and 
warning  conscience,  and  religious  faith,  and  hallowed 
memories,  and  hopes  and  fears,  and  the  softening 
touch  of  grief,  and  the  calm  of  quiet  Sabbath  days,  a 
man  may  yet  in  some  unguarded  moment  be  the  vic- 
tim of  his  besetting  sin.  Do  you  not  remember  what 
George  Herbert  says  ? — 

Lord,  with  what  care  hast  Thou  begirt  us  round  ! 

Parents  first  season  us:  then  school-masters 

Deliver  us  to  laws  ;  they  send  us  bound 
To  rules  of  reason,  holy  messengers, 


i6 


Pulpits  and  Sundays,  sorrow  dogging:  sin, 

Afflictions  sorted,  anguish  of  all  sizes, 

P'ine  nets  and  stratagems  to  catch  us  in, 
Bibles  laid  open,  millions  of  surprises. 

Blessings  beforehand,  ties  of  gratefulness 

The  sound  of  glory-  ringing  in  our  ears  ; 

Without,  our  shame  ;  within,  our  consciences  ; 
Angels  and  grace,  eternal  hopes  and  fears. 

Yet  all  these  fences  and  their  whole  array, 
One  cunning  bosom  sin  blows  quite  away. 

I  have  been  speaking  with  especial  reference  to 
one  form  of  temptation.  But  you  know  that  the  Bible 
doctrine  of  temperance— eyKparcta — does  not  have  any  ex- 
clusive reference  to  matters  of  meat  and  drink.  There 
are  other  temptations  besides  those  that  have  been 
specially  referred  to.  You  need  to  learn  this  duty  of 
self-control  with  reference  to  your  whole  moral  life. 
And  the  best  aid  to  your  moral  life  is  religious  faith. 
It  is  when  you  feel  your  weakness  that  you  are  really 
strong.  It  is  when  most  conscious  of  insufficiency  that 
you  will  feel  that  your  sufficiency  is  of  God.  Learn  to 
distrust  yourself  and  lean  on  Christ.  Lay  aside  every 
weight  and  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset  you  and  run 
with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  you,  looking 
unto  Jesus. 

**Now  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from 
falling  and  to  preserve  you  faultless  before  the  pres- 
ence of  His  glory  with  exceeding  joy,  to  the  only  wise 
God  our  Saviour,  be  glory,  and  majesty,  dominion  and 
power,  both  now  and  forever.     Amen." 


Prinoeton  UnlTeriity  PreM 


